They've turned their travels into a second job - writing books about the state - and it's a job they both love.
Well, at least half of it.
So with Durrae at the keyboard and John stationed nearby, they blend their writing styles.
As the Johaneks explored Montana and they gradually graduated from the main tourist attractions, such as Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, they decided to write "Montana Behind the Scenes," about quirky, oddball, lesser-known places they had discovered and that tourists might like to consider.
Their latest book, "Montana Folks," tells readers about the people behind the state.
Not the politicians or big wheels in business.
"Montana Folks" tells you about a mortician in Glasgow, a grasshopper invasion historian in Baker, a smokejumper in Missoula, a ferry operator in McClelland, a grain elevator photographer in Bozeman - 57 stories in all.
"Some people think Montana is just a bunch of ranchers, miners and lumberjacks," John said. "But there's so much more to Montana's people."
There's a Santa Claus "broker" in Glasgow, a totem carver in Hamilton, a yodeling wildflower botanist in Great Falls.
Durrae talked about a couple of their subjects - one they stumbled on and one they just couldn't ignore.
On one of their trips for "Montana Behind the Scenes," south of Lewistown, Durrae spied a rock with a plaque on it sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
"Whoa, back up," she told John, who was behind the wheel.
The plaque had a name on it - Loren Acton - and said something about him being Montana's first astronaut.
She thought perhaps the man had died and his ashes had been scattered at the spot, but when they started on "Montana Folks," Durrae decided to investigate.
She learned that Loren Acton was not only still alive - he lived down the street from the Johaneks in Bozeman.
Acton, who grew up on a ranch south of Lewistown where that plaque was found, went on a space shuttle mission in 1985 as a scientist for Lockheed.
"Talk about irony," Acton told the Johaneks. " 'Astronaut' wasn't even in the dictionary my wife gave me when I was in college."
Acton also noted his father, born 15 years before the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, lived to see his son fly in space.
Another subject, Bob O'Bill of Butte, is the man behind Our Lady of the Rockies, the giant statue that sits atop the Continental Divide and overlooks the mining city.
Every time their travels took them to or through Butte, Durrae said, she would make fun of the Statue of Liberty-sized monument of the Virgin Mary on the mountaintop.
"To me it was just hideous, it just looked awful," she said.
But when they were selecting people to write about, Durrae knew she had to find out about the person who built it.
O'Bill, it turned out, was "not a particularly religious man," she said. He hadn't been to church in 25 years.
But when his wife, Joyce, became seriously ill, O'Bill prayed to the Lady of Guadalupe and promised to build a statue if Joyce recovered.
He was thinking of something in the 5-foot range and to be located in the south hills of Butte, he told the Johaneks, but the project kept getting larger and larger until, as they write, it "it turned out to be nearly visible from space."
"I don't make fun of it anymore," Durrae said. "We've actually become very good friends with Bob and his wife."
Also appearing on Friday's panel, called "Montaniana," were Rick and Susie Graetz, whose latest book is "This is Montana"; Andrea Merrill-Maker author of "Montana Almanac" and a textbook called "Montana People and Their Stories"; and Jeff Smith, who wrote "The Montana Book of Days: A Short Course in Montana History."
The Festival of the Book continues Saturday, wrapping up at 7:30 p.m. with a gala reading at the Wilma Theatre.
Authors Rick Bass and James Crumley, and Montana's first poet laureate Sandra Alcosser headline the final event. There is no charge for admission to any of Saturday's readings or panel discussions.
Reach reporter Vince Devlin at 523-5260 or vdevlin@missoulian.com
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